activity-watch

A cross-platform ActivityWatch desktop application built with Tauri 2.x.

This is the modern replacement for aw-qt, providing a streamlined way to run ActivityWatch on all platforms.

Features

• System Tray: Full-featured tray icon with module management
• Module Manager: Automatic discovery, start/stop, and crash recovery for watchers
• Embedded Server: Runs aw-server-rust as part of the main executable
• WebView: Serves the aw-webui directly within the app
• Single Instance: Prevents multiple instances from running
• Autostart: Configurable system autostart with minimized launch option
• Notifications: Native system notifications via aw-notify integration
• Sync Support: Built-in aw-sync daemon support
• Linux Wayland: Auto-detection and aw-awatcher support
• Log Rotation: Automatic log file rotation (32MB max, 5 rotated files)
• TOML Configuration: User-configurable settings for port, modules, and discovery paths

Benefits of Tauri 2.x

• Builds cross-platform nicely (see their docs)
  • Generates deb and AppImage with a simple npx tauri build
  • Uses Gtk on Linux, and tao on Windows and macOS
  • No more messy PyInstaller for the main entrypoint (aw-qt)
  • Good docs for code-signing on all platforms
  • Includes an updater for MSI, .AppImage, .app bundle
• Contains a webview with an easy interface to Rust code
• Tray icon support
• Mobile support available for iOS and Android

Prerequisites

• Tauri 2.x dependencies (see their docs)
• Node.js (v20.19.0 or compatible, see .nvmrc)
• Rust (Edition 2021)
• Python 3 with Poetry (for building watchers)

Usage

Clone with submodules:

git clone --recursive https://github.com/nqdd/activity-watch.git
cd activity-watch

To run in development mode:

npm install
make dev

To build:

make build

Available Make Commands

Command	Description
make build	Full production build with prebuild step
make dev	Development mode with hot reload
make prebuild	Build aw-webui, install watchers, setup modules
make install-watchers	Install both afk and window watchers
make install-sync	Build aw-sync
make modules	Create modules directory with symlinks
make package	Package built artifacts (platform-specific)
make format	Format Rust code
make check	Run cargo check and clippy

Project Structure

activity-watch/
├── aw-app/                  # Tauri 2.x application (Rust)
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── main.rs          # Entry point
│   │   ├── lib.rs           # Core app logic, server, tray
│   │   ├── manager.rs       # Module process manager
│   │   ├── dirs.rs          # Platform-specific directories
│   │   └── logging.rs       # Log rotation setup
│   ├── tauri.conf.json      # Tauri configuration
│   └── capabilities/        # Tauri 2.0 security capabilities
├── aw-webui/                # Web UI (git submodule, Vue 2.7)
├── aw-server-rust/          # Server backend (git submodule)
├── aw-watcher-afk/          # AFK watcher (git submodule, Python)
├── aw-watcher-window/       # Window watcher (git submodule, Python)
├── aw-notify/               # Notification binary
├── modules/                 # Symlinks to built module executables
├── venv/                    # Python virtual environment
└── Makefile                 # Build commands

Configuration

Configuration file location (TOML format):

• Linux: ~/.config/activitywatch/aw-app/config.toml
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/activitywatch/aw-app/config.toml
• Windows: %APPDATA%\activitywatch\aw-app\config.toml

Example configuration:

port = 5600

[autostart]
enabled = true
minimized = true
modules = ["aw-watcher-afk", "aw-watcher-window"]

# Module with custom arguments
[autostart.modules.aw-sync]
args = ["daemon"]

Log Files

Log files with rotation (32MB max, 5 rotated files):

• Linux: ~/.cache/activitywatch/aw-app/log/aw-app.log
• macOS: ~/Library/Logs/activitywatch/aw-app/aw-app.log
• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\activitywatch\aw-app\log\aw-app.log

Submodules

Submodule	Description
aw-webui	Vue 2.7 web interface
aw-server-rust	Rust server backend
aw-watcher-window	Window activity watcher
aw-watcher-afk	AFK detection watcher

Supported Platforms

• macOS (x64, ARM)
• Linux (x64, ARM) - X11 and Wayland
• Windows (x64)